I visited the Norwood twice as a prospective tenant, and while the building is charming and has that great 1920s feel with tall ceilings, I found the property manager, Erica White, to be extremely rude, passive aggressive in her email and in-person communications with me, and to be quite honest, just unprofessional. For example, after providing me with incorrect information about the security deposit in order to pressure me to put one down on the apartment that we had just viewed (specifically, she said that I could "always change my mind" and could "always get back the security deposit, even after putting it down," and when I said that I doubted you could get it back, without first paying 12 months of rent, she became extremely frustrated), I then requested that she contact the corporate office and send me an email with their policy regarding security deposits. After she finally provided me with the CORRECT information (no, you cannot freely "change your mind" and just "get the security deposit back" after putting one down... that's why it is called a security deposit...), she then blamed me - she wrote, "I apologize if you aren't clear on the application process, security deposit or the apartment." It was extremely unprofessional, especially considering she had given false information before and this is something that affects people's lives. When people put down a security deposit, that is often a large chunk of their savings. Even the corporate office knew better customer service than she did, and they were able to explain the process very clearly, and importantly, accurately.
Then began a horrendous process that was like pulling teeth, in order to find out any information at all about the apartment, the expected renovations, or even building amenities. The corporate office ended up doing a large part of Erica's job for her, in order to at least provide me with the needed information, accurately. However, Erica was rude, unresponsive, and often even sarcastic over email. If the building had not been so beautiful, I would not have dealt with her for so long. I hear that the maintenance staff is excellent as well, so I was actually considering for a brief amount of time that I could live here and hopefully, not have to deal with Erica too much. However, her behavior did not stop. If this is what she is like when I'm a prospective tenant, and moreover, when I've already applied and have been approved unconditionally, and I am ready and right about to sign a lease, I could not imagine what she would be like if I had signed a lease and actually had to interact with her as the property manager. It made me sick to receive repeated rude and snarky comments over email, even when asking simple questions. She clearly was poorly trained and incompetent at her job, because she often could not answer basic questions, and when she couldn't answer, she would just resort to pressuring me to sign a lease, as if she had forgotten that she had JUST promised to provide me with further information. She would then get either frustrated or overwhelmed, or both, when I politely declined to sign a lease and opted to wait for my questions to be answered. She never responded to me about a number of important questions, I had to follow up on numerous occasions, and I was unable to receive any reply regarding my move-in date or important logistical things that mattered. On the few occasions when she did respond to a few of the questions that I had sent, she would include rude responses like, "You were informed of this earlier" (I was not) and "is this a dealbreaker for you?" Why not try to sell me on the place, rather than speaking in such negative terms? I am a homeowner in another city and more importantly, someone who had already applied for and qualified for the apartment and actually WANTED to sign a lease, but every time I received an email or any form of communication from her, it was so rude that I finally decided I just could not stomach dealing with her behavior, in spite of there being an apartment that I really wanted. She was clearly inexperienced, as she would often provide me with a tiny bit of information after I had been waiting for weeks, and then expect that I would sign a lease within minutes of hearing her answer. She often provided inaccurate information, and she sent emails where she expressed her personal frustration with me. After interacting with her for more than six weeks now (no, it was not just one bad day), I am sure her answer to this post would be, "I am sorry that you aren't able to feel respected. Have a great day! Feel free to contact me in the future for any of your housing needs!"
If Erica White had not been the person I spent most of my time interacting with, I would have signed a lease at the Norwood in a heartbeat. However, no apartment, no matter how beautiful, is worth such tolerating such disrespect and a complete lack of professionalism. read more